Youth Indicators 1996 / Indicator 37

Indicator 37. International Achievement Comparison

Scores on international mathematics, science, and reading assessments of 13- and 14-year-olds in selected countries: 1991

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                | 13-year-olds,  ||                           |14-year-olds,
                |percent correct ||                           |   mean\1\
    Country     |----------------||          Country          |-------------
                | Mathe- |Science||                           |   Reading
                | matics |       ||                           |
----------------|--------|-------||---------------------------|-------------
Korea ..........      73      78 ||Finland ....................         560
Taiwan .........      73      76 ||France .....................         549
Switzerland\2\ .      71      74 ||Sweden .....................         546
Soviet Union\3\       70      71 ||New Zealand ................         545
Hungary ........      68      73 ||Hungary ....................         536
France .........      64      69 ||Switzerland ................         536
Israel\4\ ......      63      70 ||Iceland ....................         536
Canada .........      62      69 ||United States ..............         535
Scotland .......      61      68 ||Hong Kong ..................         535
Ireland ........      61      63 ||Slovenia ...................         532
Slovenia .......      57      70 ||Germany (former East) ......         526
Spain\5\ .......      55      68 ||Denmark ....................         525
United States ..      55      67 ||Canada (British Columbia) ..         522
Jordan .........      40      57 ||Germany (former West) ......         522
                                 ||Norway .....................         516
                                 ||Italy ......................         515
                                 ||Netherlands ................         514
                                 ||Ireland ....................         511
                                 ||Spain ......................         490
                                 ||Belgium\6\ .................         481
                                 ||Trinidad/Tobago ............         479
                                 ||Thailand ...................         477
                                 ||Philippines ................         430
                                 ||Venezuela ..................         417
                                 ||Botswana ...................         330
---------------------------------||-----------------------------------------

/1/ Score distributions are based on a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100.

/2/ 15 cantons.

/3/ Schools in 14 republics, where instruction is in Russian.

/4/ Schools where instruction is in Hebrew.

/5/ Includes Spanish speaking schools, except in Cataluna.

/6/ Only French-speaking students were tested.

SOURCES: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Learning Mathematics and Learning Science. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, How in the World Do Students Read?

Indicator chart and text.

[Indicator 36. Science Proficiency] [Indicator 38. International Comparisons of Educational Systems]